Thousands descended upon the historic Village of New Paltz for the Hudson Valley Pride Coalition March and Festival on Sunday, June 4. The march down Main Street, led by grand marshal Epiphany Getpaid, was followed by a festival in Hasbrouck Park featuring speeches by Senator Michelle Hinchey and Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, performances by Resisterhood Choir and local drag queens including Blair Baack and friends. The after party was an all-ages drag show hosted by Veela Peculiar at Bacchus.
The event was organized by a still-forming coalition including Out Loud Hudson Valley, the Village of New Paltz, the New Paltz Pride Coalition, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, and countless others.
Alexandria Wojcik, Village of New Paltz Deputy Mayor, coordinated the coalition beginning in 2021 and took the lead organizing the nuts and bolts of the march and festival the past few years. She threw their heart and soul into some very late nights making it all happen these past few years because “with LGBTQIA+ rights, and bodily autonomy, under attack across the country — trans life in particular, Black and BIPOC trans life to be most specific — it’s more imperative than ever we come together this Pride Month and show up every way and place we can. As a queer elected official, it meant the world to me to be joined by so many community leaders and other community members for our Pride celebration in the community where the first same sex marriages took place, which catapulted LGBTQIA+ civil rights into the national spotlight.”
Wojcik hopes the coalition will continue to grow and the annual event will be even more collaborative and community-led in the coming years.
“We’re so excited to be part of this coalition in a bigger way this year” said Jimmy Prada of Out Loud Hudson Valley.
“New Paltz Pride is when magic hits Main Street. We march to celebrate who we are and what it took to get us here,” said Eve Papp of the New Paltz Pride Coalition, a new non-profit planning to build a Pride Center in New Paltz. “However, we always remember those before us and the price that has been paid. Our struggle is far from over, but we will continue to march it forward.”
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